Soloist
by pas l'auteur
Summary: Souji tried something and his companions weren't happy about it. Warning: AU


**Soloist**

* * *

Curiosity killed the cat. Yes, there's a saying like that. But exploring the TV world alone did sound interesting. They had successfully rescued Naoto anyway. Other than confirming the culprit's still at large, there's no lead until Naoto recovered and, if possible, shared her part of the story. Hence, there's no urgency.

The gray haired boy stood idly by the 40" television, one hand buried deep inside his pocket. He had his eyes scanning his surroundings as he relaxed in his usual stance. Junes Electronic Department was crowded, unexpectedly. It's five in the afternoon, on Monday. He really wondered why people would go here rather than going home.

Then again, he's one of those people.

Good news was; he hadn't sight a single hair of his friends. It would be problematic if any of them knew what he's up to. Besides he already made a promise with them.

_No one should go alone._

Getting lost and die were the main reasons and he agreed to that. But It's been months since he and his friends combating the otherworldly beings; Shadows. With that much experience, he thought it would be piece of cake exploring Yukiko's Castle or Kanji's Bathhouse by himself.

After made sure no one saw him, Seta Souji swiftly jumped inside the TV. Frowned, he ended up at the lobby as usual. Had some thoughts he would ended up somewhere else, remembering the last five people who went in alone.

He made his way to the weapon trunk by the edge of the lobby. His katana was sitting on the top of his friends' arsenal. Its edge was a little rusted, upon closer inspection. No surprise really. The money he had was spent more for summoning Personas from Margaret's compendium. Fusing personas was really addictive.

As he rested his katana on his shoulder, Souji stood in front of three paths, staring at them. He did that for a good five minutes.

"…which is which?" he muttered.

Took the middle one in the end. Simply because he just had to walk straight.

Due to the fog, his vision was limited. It could only go as far as a meter ahead. At this point he remembered he had to put the glasses on.

Adjusting his glasses, Seta Souji found himself inside a forest. His memory was still clear of what lies inside this forest. Naoto's Secret Lab, as he'd like to dub it. Shadows there were quite a hassle. He had some difficulties dealing with in a party, especially the robot that really looked like Neo-Featherman. A couple of 'All-out-attacks' weren't enough to bring it down.

Nevertheless, he kept walking and walking until he's inside a wide area. That ear-killing alarm was still on, raging as he walked by. He couldn't even hear his footsteps on the metal floor. It took a while adjusting his ears with the loud noise.

He stopped his march as he intuitively jumped back, dodging a hack from a gigantic sword. As he thought, the attack came from the Neo-Featherman-like shadow. _What a luck._ Its gigantic figure stood steadily facing him. Drawing back his katana, Souji leaped toward the shadow. His diagonal slash was blocked easily by that gigantic sword. Floating vulnerably in the air, he retaliated by summoning Seryuu.

The Azure Dragon struck bolts of lightning, staggering the shadow. As his feet landed on the floor, Souji shifted his persona to Hanuman. He cast Rakunda via the white ape, causing the shadow's armor to rust. Tightening his grip, the gray haired boy launched a violent slash downward, cutting off its rusty leg. Having the momentum on his side, he casted Power Charge and quickly commanded Hanuman to use Blade of Fury.

A pair of gray eyes watched Neo-Featherman like Shadow was slashed from every direction before it vaporized into the air.

Seta Souji breathed heavily, noting he wouldn't last long if he kept fighting in this pace. It took some time to catch his breath. As he regained his composure, he began to look around. The gray haired boy found himself already surrounded by various absurd looking shadows. And it's unlikely they came to chat.

"Yukiko-san, focus on healing Naoto-kun! Naoto-kun, keep the pressure on that robot! And Chie! Hurry up and kick the other robot!"

"I'm-trying!"

Chie launched a powerful spinning kick on the robot's shoulder. Slipping under her, Yosuke casted Garula from a close distance. The wind viciously crushed its outer armor, giving Chie an easy target for her brute axe kick. The pair turned their attention to the other robot.

Naoto rapid shots combined with Sukuna-Hikona agile slashes kept it from advancing. Their attacks were poorly coordinated as Sukuna-Hikona were continuously damaging Naoto. But Yukiko's constant healing nullified it.

While sprinting, Yosuke casted Tarunda on Chie's legs like he did before, "Go! Go! Go!"

"I got it I got it!"

Started with a dash, Chie slide down the floor. Closing her distance with the robot while dodging its giant slash altogether. The brunette martial artist then struck a sweep kick. The impact managed to bring down its gigantic metal body down on its back.

"Now, everyone!"

"Roger."

"Okay!"

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Flashing slashes, a giant fireball, vicious tornado, and a raging blade of naginata. All combined in one powerful attack, completely dispersing the robot-like shadow into dark vapor.

"Glad that's over with," Yosuke silently watched the robot vaporized while trying to catch his breath. "Rise-chan, is Souji here?"

**"Y-Yes! He's inside the main hall two doors from your place, Yosuke-senpai. Please hurry!"**

"Alright, Yukiko-san, Naoto-kun, switch with Teddie and Kanji.

**"It's finally my time!"** Teddie shouted out loud.

**"A'ight!"** Kanji cheered.

Yosuke grinned at their morale, "Protect Rise-chan. Me and the boys will save our leader." Chie's twitched her brow when realized she's categorized as 'the boys'.

"Understood." "Please be careful." Naoto and Yukiko said respectably before dashed toward the entrance where Rise was.

The magician let out a long sigh, letting his butt fell on the floor. "I never know being a leader is this exhausting…"

"You did a good job, though." Chie piped up while trying to control her breathing.

A chuckle escaped from Yosuke's mouth, "It's scary to hear you actually praise me, Chie."

"Not so much, if you weren't being such a jerk all the time." the brunette martial artist sat beside the magician, hugging her legs, "I can't stop wondering if Souji-kun's okay. I mean it's been a week, right? What if-"

"Relax, Chie. This is Souji we're talking about. He won't go down that easily." Yosuke reassured her.

Looking at Yosuke's face, she knew he was trying to convince himself too. She knew he had doubts. She knew he's as worried as she was. Nevertheless, Chie didn't say anything.

"We're here, Yosuke-senpai!"

"Let's roll Bro-suke!"

The magician ignored Teddie's 'Bro-suke' thing, standing up to face his peers. He exchange glances with Chie, Teddie, then Kanji, confirming determination in their eyes. "I'm going to make him buy us some steaks after this." he murmured before leading the group into the door.

Rusty blade clashed against a serpent's scales, unleashing a loud clanks. Overpowered by the scales, the blade broke in two. A gray haired boy gritted his teeth, bracing himself when the Immoral Snake whipped its scaled tail at him. The impact sent him flying toward a dozen of Hell Knights, ready to impale their spears.

Keeping his consciousness from the direct attack, Souji focused his psyche to summon Kin-Ki. The golden demon blocked all of Hell Knights thrusts while the gray haired boy used its body as a support, landing safely on the floor.

Jolt of pains flashing through his head. Apparently, Kin-Ki didn't last long as the golden demon was forcefully removed from the battle field. Souji was down on one knee, panting.

Ignoring the headache, Souji barely dodged Immoral Snake's tail whip, rolling to the side. A pair of gray eyes widened when the serpent suddenly trapped in a block of ice. Without thinking, Souji used the remaining strength he had to summon Izanagi, hacking the serpent into pieces.

A wry smile was planted on his lips as he watched three figures he knew well hastily entered the battlefield.

"MAZIONGAAA!" Kanji cast out series of thunder above those Hell Knights, shocking them.

"Tch!" Yosuke spawned a tornado as one of the Hell Knights made its way through Kanji's thunders, floating it violently in the air.

"Tomoe!" Chie's persona finished it with a powerful upward slash from its naginata.

"Hang in there, senseiii!" Teddie began pouring out Diarama on Souji, moderately healing his wounds.

With the help of his friends, Souji managed to escape the dungeon. His white shirt was tattered and his pants were decorated with cuts. His weary gray eyes swept the entire lobby, finding his friends with rage in their eyes. Nobody spoke up. Even Yukiko, who was using healing spell on his body looked as hostile as those shadows he fought.

"Uh, I'm sor-" a punch was flying to Souji's face.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THIKNING?!" Yosuke was about to throw another punch but stopped by Kanji, who seemed want to do it as bad as Yosuke.

"Easy, Yosuke-senpai," Kanji began calmly, much to the other's surprise, "I'm sure Senpai has a good reason. Let's hear 'em first."

Everybody's silently agreed with Kanji, facing their leader with a questioning look. Their eyes were softened as he's letting out a faint smile.

"I remember a lot of things while I was down there." he paused, clenching his fist, "I will break one of these days. At that time, I need you guys to save me like you did just now."

No one understood what their gray haired leader meant. That's until his cousin, Dojima Nanako, was seen on the Midnight Channel. Souji's eyes were widened and he went ballistic to save her. Their words nor their combined strength were able to stop him from jumping inside the TV by himself.

Seta Souji was standing tall as he was surrounded by a horde of shadows. Belphegor, Shiki-Ouji, Cerberus, and White Rider were lined up behind his back. His radiating rage made the shadows reluctant to initiate the attack.

And then, all hell broke loose.

Thankfully the rest of the Investigation Team tracked their leader on time. Kanji made a sprint when his unconscious Senpai was violently thrown into the air by an almighty attack, catching his body. Yosuke, Chie, and Naoto ran past them, respectively fending off the shadows who's trying to devour Kanji. Yukiko's blazing fireballs were raining down on the shadows, keeping them at bay. Rise guided them out of the dungeon while Teddie provide healing to the assault team. It won't take long for them to escape the dungeon.

"Thanks…" was Souji's first word when he regained his consciousness.

The team could only smile. Their leader finally said that word he should the first time they saved him.

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Disclaimer : I don't own persona

A/N : The story is AU and the plot is... well, *shrugging* I only focused writing the action part, though it's not that much. thanks for reading anyway


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